 A fiery horse with a speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty high old silver, the lone ranger. Whenever men gathered around the campfire in the early days of the western United States, stories were told of the masked ratted the plains. His strength and courage, his daring and resourcefulness, made it possible for him to bring criminal after criminal to justice, even when all the forces of the law had failed. It was he more than any other man who made possible the winning of the West. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. From out of the past come the thundering hoofbeats of the Great Horse Silver. The lone ranger rides again. The little town of San Salvo laid the foot of one of the natural wonders in the West. A great mass of brilliant red sandstone streaked with yellow rose from the plains. The men and women of the surrounding country had come to accept the bluff as a matter of course. And as old Shep Harper wrote along the main street of San Salvo, he raised his voice and song, but he never lifted his eyes toward the towering rock. Go down! You'll be still too? Sure. Yep. I got a right to feel so. My grand-owner is doing here on the morning stage. No. Is that so? It ain't just so. See, there's Lawyer Lake in his office there. I got business with him. He's there? But Shep, listen. Huh? Lawyer Lake's a mighty shrewd cuss. I wouldn't go trust him none too far. He ain't but Lake in town. Couldn't see no other lawyer because he ain't none. Besides, he can't swindle me none. All I'm having him do is make out my will. Will? What do you want of a will? You ain't fixin' to die, are you? Me? God! Only I want to make sure Molly gets my ranch and livestock if something happens. I don't want no dog-gone relatives. They ain't never seen come pokin' in here. Molly's comin' to live with me. And I aim to make sure she's well-to-care of. The lake's inside, Shep. But remember this. Keep your spectacles good and clean while you're dealin' with his kind. Don't you worry. Watch my dog and horse, will you? Mm-hmm. And horn, Mr. Lake? Well, Shep, glad to see you. I fixed up your will and testament the way you outlined it. Good enough. I'm here to sign her up and have it all set legal. Sit right down here and look it over. Make sure it's the way you want it. I'll win the other room and ask some friends to come and witness your signature. All right. Just make yourself comfortable, Shep. I won't be long. And take your time. I read slow and dog-gone careful. Branigan, he's out there now. Oh, Shep? Yeah. Now get this straight, Branigan. If we play it right, we'll be the new owners of Shep Harper's big ranch. There ain't nothin' I'd like better. It'll be a tough lot of luck for that granddaughter of Shep's to come here and find the old man dead and her left without a dime. But she'll have to make the best of it. Maybe you'll feel real generous and find her job in your law office. Well, she's a handsome girl. Maybe I will. What's my part? I can't use you as a witness because you're the one that's inherent the property. I'll call lefty from outside to witness the will. I'm to inherit the spread, eh? We'll fix some sort of sort of story about Shep Harper owning you a lot of cash. You can tell that around a couple of places between now and the time that old Shep dies. Tell it that he owes me money, eh? Yeah. But what about that? You pass him as you go out and bump into him to knock his glasses off. Then I switch papers and he signs this one. It won't work late. Why? That girl comes tomorrow and the first thing she hears from Shep is that he's made a will. You know how important that'll seem to an old coot like him? You'll tell everyone about it. No, he won't. You don't figure on killing him right off, do you? That won't do either. It'll raise too many questions, Brandigan. Shep Harper is going to starve to death and you're going to help him. Go on. We'll go further after I get his name on the will. Now remember, eye glasses. He can't read without them. Right. Come on. Can you make it out all right, Shep? Oh, sure, sure thing. Ain't much to it just that I leave all I got tomorrow. This is Brandigan. You know him, don't you? I reckon so. Glad to see you again, Harper. I, uh, I gotta be leaving. Hey, look out! My specs! Oh, confounded. I tripped right over that chair. Say, I'm sorry about your spectacles. Dad read it all. Why don't you watch where you're going? Oh, unfortunate. Unfortunate, Shep. I'm sorry, Shep. Look, I'll buy you a new pair. Oh, I got extra ones to hum. But I hang it. I had to send all the way to see Joe for them. You send for some more and I'll pay for them. I'll see you later, Mr. Lake. You're right. Ain't he the witness, my Simon or something? Well, um, Brandigan was in a hurry, Shep. Lefty's out in front. I'll call him in. Oh, Lefty. Yeah? Come in here with you. I want you to witness the signature. At dusk that evening, the Lone Ranger and Tato made camp near San's Hollow. While they ate, they studied the poteau that reared high above the surrounding ranches and Grogan's Bluff, they call it, had her. Named after the man who built the bridge to reach the top, Bill Grogan. Why him go there? For the same reason men have always gone to places that were hard to reach. He thought there must be something worthwhile when he got there. There have been a lot of rumors about an ancient tribe of Indians who buried a treasure on that plateau. Oh, that's not true. No. I don't know how the story started, but Grogan believed it and he made a pretty thorough search. There have been a lot of guesses at how he managed to build the bridge. Goes across a canyon fully 200 feet deep. What happened? An explosion. It's all right, so let's take it easy, boy. Here. You can see it, Tato. Down the canyon? Yes. Just as we were speaking about that bridge. Look, it's been blown up. Why has that happened? I suppose the man in town did it. I've been talked about before. The bridge wasn't safe anymore and there was always the risk that someone would cross to the plateau and cave in the bridge or be caught in the plateau and the heavy wind destroyed the only way to get back to safe ground. No. The bridge gone. It's probably a good thing. It's all right, Silver. That little scared, isn't it, old boy? Well, it's all right now. Come to wonder. You wonder what, Kimusabe? If it all right, why then blow up the bridge? Acts do same work. Cost plenty less. Well, we'll ask about that one. We get to town tomorrow. I'll count on you to learn all about it, Tato. San Salvo isn't the town I care to visit wearing a mask. The next day, the stage arrived in San Salvo. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Hold on, hold on, hold on. There's the mail sack. Let's send some water for them horses. Wee! You're looking to passenger! The only passenger was a girl of 18. The guard helped her to the ground. There's your baggage, miss. And lawyer Lake stepped forward two meters. How do you do? You must be Molly Harper. Oh, yes. My name is Lake, miss Harper. At your service. I expected my grandfather to meet me. I thought he'd be here, too, but I haven't seen him since yesterday. I'm his lawyer, though, so perhaps you'll allow me to serve you. I haven't the slightest idea where his ranch is. Do you know? Do I know? Well, I should say so. I guess everyone around here knows Chef Harper's ranch. It's one of the finest in the county. Really? Yes, indeed. Well, I'll take your bag and find a rig to drive you out there. I don't like to put you to trouble, Mr. Lake. I don't like to put you to trouble at all, not a bit. In fact, it'll be a pleasure. Wow, nice. I thought the Western men were, uh, well, not like the Easterners. Well, we'll try to make you like the country, miss Harper. Get up, man. Get up. Let's go again. Oh, Leslie, get that team and rig out. We'll drive miss Harper to Chef's place. Right. There's a couple of visitors at the house. I don't recognize those horses. Do you, Lefty? Me? No. Never seen me in one of them before. Say, that white one sure looks powerful, though. Look. That man is mad. What entranation? Hey, here, stranger, what's the idea? How are you? Well, of all the cusset nerve. Who are you, is the question. Quiet, Lefty. I'll handle this. Just who are you, stranger? I came to learn who owns this ranch. I haven't seen any of the hands around the place yet. This is Chef Harper's property. And with the robbery you're planning, you might as well... Do you know your link? I am. Well, that's what I thought. I've heard descriptions of you. Is this a holdout? No. Please don't be frightened by my mask. Is Harper owned a dog? Sure. What about it? Dog about the size of a collie? That's it. Grub steak, he calls the critter. Where is Grandpa? Have you seen him? Grandpa? You raised granddaughter? Yes. From the East? Yes. We don't propose to stand here and answer your questions. We're all the men. I don't know. And I have no further questions. Come, Thunder. Oh, he comes. Savage. Oh, Mr. Layman, are they down to Grandpa? I don't know. Where is he? Have you murdered him? Come, Kimosubby. Hey, the lady asked you a question. Oh, still. I don't want to ask any more questions right now, Thunder. No, what we do? We're going back and have another look at the ground near that bridge. Come on, Silver. We know several things. The back trail led to old Chef Harper's home. Must have been Chef who crossed the bridge with his dog. Not right. And before he came back, the bridge was blown away. That means that he either was on the bridge when it was destroyed, which would have meant certain death. Or he's on the plateau, which means equally certain death, but not as quick. Ah, him starve on plateau. There isn't any way on earth for him to get off of there. Maybe build no bridge. It would take weeks, Taddo. And he'd be dead long before anyone could cross. I wonder if we can't make him hear us. You fire a shot, maybe. I will. And not answer. Nothing but the echo. I wonder if this is murder. Maybe a girl wants ranch. It doesn't seem that she'd plot the murder of an old man. There's no answer, Kimosabi. How can we get to Grogan's bluff? I don't know. Hello. Where did you come from? How about her, old boy? Looks as if you've had a hard time with it. Dog, I'm pretty tired here. Let me pull some of those brambles off. What do you want? Taddo, any answers if you wanted me to follow him? Wait. You look, what? She tracked a dog. Well, this is the same dog. The one that crossed the bridge. Is there another way to get back from that plateau? There is. I've never heard about it. We pull a dog. See where him go. All right, boy. Leave the way. We'll see where you go. We go and put. Leave the horses, Taddo. Come on. Dog, go along top canyon. Look at where that dog's going. He's gone over the edge of the canyon. Come on. It might be a trail that we know nothing about. Here's where he went down. Now we'll... Oh, no use, Taddo. There is a trail to the bottom, but it's less than four inches wide. Only a dog could make it. But now we sure are man. There's no question about it. That's Shep Harper's dog, and Shep is on the other side. He's heard or helpless, or he'd have answered our cries. We've got to find some way to help him. The curtain falls on the first act of our Lone Ranger story. Before the next exciting scenes, please permit us to pause for just a few moments to continue our story. Shep Harper's dog barked at the Lone Ranger and Taddo from the opposite rim of the canyon. He seemed to be begging them to help his master, but only a dog could descend the narrow ledge to the canyon floor and scale the other side. Well, that dog can't understand why we don't go and help his master. You got rope. Maybe let Taddo down to the bottom. Well, that wouldn't help, Kimus Abbey. You still couldn't get up the other side. And what do we do? The dog can cross. How can we use that dog? Maybe rope reach over canyon. The rope would be too heavy. The dog couldn't possibly climb that wall with the rope tied to him. Wait, have a scheme. Taddo, get your bow in a good arrow. There's some fishing cord in my saddlebag. Here's over. This cord is light but strong. Tie one end to your arrow. Then what do I do? Shoot the arrow past that big rock on the right-hand side. Shoot now? Yes, and look out for the dog. Dog, watch what we do. If only that dog will do what we want. Go ahead, let the arrow loose. And go. Looks like a good shot. Perfect. Fetch it back, boy. Fetch it back. Dog, look at the arrow. He's picking up the arrow. Here, hold the cord. Pay it out as the dog carries the arrow. I'm calling the dog from down this way. If he'll just go around the back of the big rock over there. Here, boy. Here, boy. Come on. That's it, fellow. Bring it here. Pay out the cord, Taddo. The dog followed a natural impulse to retrieve. With the arrow in his mouth, he descended to the canyon floor once more. Then with the Lone Ranger encouraging him every inch of the way, he crawled along the narrow shelf on the near side of the cliff. Progress was slow, but finally he reached the top and... Good boy, good for you. Now we've get here, Master. Taddo, Taddo Larry, it's both of them to the cord. We'll pull them around that rock and fasten them on the side. Then we go over, huh? With two strong ropes across that chasm, we can reach the other side. Molly Harper stayed at Shep's Ranch, but in spite of the efforts of everyone around the place to make her feel at home, she became more and more worried about her grandfather's absence. Mom Megs, who handled the housework and cooking, found it almost impossible to reassure her. Oh, now, Miss Molly, I can recollect a time when Shep was gone from here for over six weeks. We never know where he was at, but he'd come back surprise, ever. But it's been a week now, and he knew I'd be here. He wouldn't stay this long and not leave somewhere for me. He can't tell. He's pretty absent-minded sometimes. Now, don't you fret, nun. He's all right. No news is good news, I will say. Oh, I hope so. Um, one thing I wanted to make a mention of, Miss Molly, and I hope you won't think I'm an old fool for bringing it up. What is it, Mrs. Megs? It's about that lawyer, Gent, Mr. Lake. Oh, yes. He's been calling frequent. Now, I wouldn't get too friendly with him if you not hit your grandpa gets back. He seems very gentlemanly. Well, seems sometimes ain't. He's always been friendly with Lefty Horner and Beth Brannigan, and they ain't a more worthless couple alive than them two. Judge a man by his company, I always say. Brannigan. Mr. Lake mentioned him. Didn't he loan Grandpa a lot of money? Oh, not I know of. That's funny. Mr. Lake said he did. Well, I never got into your grandpa's personal affairs. In fact, Mr. Lake hinted that if something happened to Grandpa, I-I mightn't have the ranch here. Oh, that's loco. Why, your grandpa always stayed leaving her to you. That's why he wanted you here. I don't know. I just wish he'd come back. Another week elapsed. Then one afternoon, as Molly was sitting on the front porch, three men rode up to the ranch house. Mrs. Megs, who are those men with Mr. Lake? A big one is Brannigan. The other one is Lefty that I made mention of. Fine pair of sidewinders. I'm going into the house. Good afternoon, Miss Molly. How do you do, Mr. Lake? I'm afraid I come to bring her news that won't be pleasant. About Grandpa? Indirectly. Oh, this is Mr. Brannigan. Howdy, Miss. I'm downright glad to know you. Brannigan just returned to town. He's been away for two weeks. In fact, he left the same day your grandfather came to my office. Well... Well, that was the day I signed my name to Grand Papi's will, Miss Molly. I'll do the talking. Miss Molly, that afternoon your grandfather met Brannigan and told him he was going to Grogan's bluff. Grogan's bluff? You've heard about the bluff, of course. Yes, but why should Grandpa go there? He had some secret reason, but he didn't tell Brannigan what it was. Brannigan left town, and when he came back and told me where Shepard started for, I realized an awful truth. What? Well, you know, there had been a meeting of the town board, and it was decided to destroy the bridge to the bluff. It was a safety measure, you see. There had been a hand-bill in town for some time, announcing that the explosion would take place some time after sundown and warning everyone to stay away. And... and Grandpa went there? That's what I'm afraid is the case. That he might still be there? If he went there, Miss Molly, he would be starved to death long before this. Well, that's what happened then. I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am. Oh, I knew something had happened to him. Poor Grandpa. Why didn't someone tell him? Why wouldn't he warn? I didn't know about the blast and plans of my own self when he told me he was going there. Dad read it all, Lake Yafoni. I'd come back to town ten days ago. There still would have been time to send a rescue party to get him. Even that would be almost impossible. As it stands, though, he's dead for sure. Oh! Better go into the house and cry it out. Then she'll be better able to listen to the rest of what we have to tell her. Right. I hate to scheme a swell girl like her and harass her. Shut up, Branigan. Remember, it's out of your hands now. I know. You've got that wheel of ships with your league right here in my pocket. As soon as we've given her time to cry it out, we'll go and talk to her. Look, what's coming? I saw him before. Who is he? I don't know, Branigan. I saw him right here once before. I had no idea you'd be here, Lake. I heard that Branigan had returned to town. You can't go in there. My one authority, do you plan to stop me? I'll tell you why I plan to stop you. This year, Branigan is mine. We'll go inside. Perhaps, if you tell me your business, I'd be more willing to talk to you. There now, honey. If you have a good cry, you'll feel the sight better. Who are you? A friend of Chef Harper. Your new grandpa? Yes. The lake just told me he's dead. He went to Grogan's bluff. No one except Branigan knew he was going there. The day the bridge was destroyed. Didn't he return from Grogan's bluff? Obviously not. He hasn't been seen. By this time, he starved to death there. You brought that news to Miss Harper? I thought she should know. Just how did he happen to go to Grogan's bluff that day? I don't know. He didn't tell me why he went there. He didn't? Now what are you asking all these here questions for? Ain't none of your business? Is there any reason why Chef might have gone to Grogan's bluff? No, I can't. Of course, Lake, you plan to have a rescue party, go and try and get him off. No use now. He'd have died long before this. What was nearly two weeks ago, he went there. I see. We better get out of here and leave Miss Harper with more mages. It's been quite a shock to her. There are a few details to settle first, Lake. Well, please be quick. You told Miss Harper, of course, the terms of her grandfather's will? How do you know what them terms are? Chef made a will, didn't he? Yes, you told me he did, Mr. Lake. Have I denied the fact? Of course he made a will. And his ransom property goes to his granddaughter? Well, um, it's a matter of fact. Hasn't it? No, it don't. It goes to the... How do you know about it, Branigan? The fact is Branigan was promised this ranch to pay off a large debt hopper owed. Is that true? Yes. Chef Harper's will gives everything he owned to his dear friend and benefactor, Mr. Branigan. I can't believe that, Grandpa. I'm sorry, I'm not going to discuss the point. I have the will here. It's there in writing, and it's witness. I witnessed the signing of it by Chef Harper Moon, so... Miss Marley, if you know your grandfather's signature, I'm sure you'll recognize this. Then it looks like Grandpa's writing. I don't believe it. May I see that? Here. I'm afraid, Miss Harper, that this is perfectly legal. Then Chef didn't know what he was signing. I know for sure he never owed Branigan no cash. I'm in no position to discuss that matter more. There's the will, and it's not for me to argue. The law will have to decide. If Chef is dead, Miss Harper, there isn't a thing that you can do about this. You'll just have to move off this ranch. I tried to prepare you for this, Marley, without repaying any confidences. You remember I hinted you might need employment. Yes, Mr. Link. You fight that there, will, Marley. Fight a tooth and nail. That ain't the way Chef planned things at all. It will do no good to fight it, will it, Link? No, not a bit. The only way that will could be made void would be for Chef himself to make a new one. And he can't do that. Why? Why? Why can't Chef make a new will? Because he's dead. Oh, that was merely your idea, Branigan. He couldn't get off Grogan's bluff with the bridge gone? He could. In fact, Branigan, he did. You're not born right at the age of two. Mate, you warned me double-crossing crook. I ought it really away you stand. You're covered. The sheriff has come along with Chef just to make sure that you don't get too hard to handle. Link, what's going wrong? I'll tell you what went wrong. My dog, old grub steak, got off in the bluff and found that mask man. We managed with the dog's help to reach the bluff, you see. And that pitfall you fixed for me to fall into worked just right, Branigan. I had been done for if the mask man hadn't got to me and fixed me where I was hurt and took care of me while we seen what your scheme was. Why did you go to the bluff? I went there because Branigan says you'd come in early and seen the bluff and wanted to look her over and that you was waiting there for me. I was a dog-going old fool to swallow that yarn. I see the whole thing now. I see why you smashed my glasses, Branigan, so as I wouldn't know a different will was stuck before me by that crooked lawyer. Thank goodness you're back, Grandpa, and all right. I'm as bright as rain now. The mask gent in his engine part are better than any saw-booms I ever know by patching up an old glute like me. Oh, Chef, why, and Tonka didn't you let us know you was back? I wanted to, but the gent there figured it was best to set tight and see what game was being played. Well, we seen. And now we can jail them critters so as it won't be played again. You've heard all you need to, Lake. Outside. I demand to be heard. Make your demands in court. The judge is paid to listen to you. All of you, out with the sheriff is waiting. Go on, I gotta do something for you. If you're old dog that did it, Chef, go on in, Grubsteak. You're home, too. Oh, wow! You have just heard of the copyrighted feature of the Lone Ranger Incorporated.